Impacts of a national strategy to reduce population salt intake in England: serial cross sectional study.

Abstract

BackgroundThe UK introduced an ambitious national strategy to reduce population levels of salt intake in 2003. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of this strategy on salt intake in England, including potential effects on health inequalities.MethodsSecondary analysis of data from the Health Survey for England. Our main outcome measure was trends in estimated daily salt intake from 2003-2007, as measured by spot urine. Secondary outcome measures were knowledge of government guidance and voluntary use of salt in food preparation over this time period.ResultsThere were significant reductions in salt intake between 2003 and 2007 (-0.175 grams per day per year, pConclusionsThe introduction a national salt reduction strategy was associated with uniform but modest reductions in salt intake in England, although it is not clear precisely which aspects of the strategy contributed to this. Knowledge of government guidance was lower and voluntary salt use and total salt intake was higher among occupational and ethnic groups at greatest risk of cardiovascular disease.